Arab Muslim woman among those lighting torch at Mt Herzl for Independence Day

Lucy Aharish is an Israeli news anchor and reporter, who was the first Hebrew-speaking Arab anchor on Israeli television.

She has experienced discrimination in Israeli society, and she has fought it admirably. Haaretz quoted her in 2009 as saying "I'm not a wretched Arab woman. How can I whine that I've been deprived? I like my life just fine, despite all the stinking racism that exists here....There is a new generation of Arabs who don't give a hoot what anyone thinks and will do everything they can to get into high positions. We have other things to get over besides the occupation and discrimination. We are fighters and don't give in. If you don't open the door for me, I will come in through the window, and if it is closed, down the chimney. We were too polite, but we learned Israeli chutzpah. It's easy to humiliate an Arab who kowtows, but when that person says 'Listen, pal, tone it down, don't talk to me like that,' you arrive at a dialogue."

Yet Aharish is also a proud Israeli. She has just been chosen to be one of people to light the torch at Mount Herzl for Israel's Independence Day this year, and she is thrilled:

Lucy Aharish, Arab Israeli television host and reporter, woke up on Saturday morning and saw that someone had been trying to reach her by phone for hours.

"I called back. It was Yitzhak Zunshine, the head of the Hasbara Center," Aharish said in an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth.


"I asked what the urgency was and he responded: 'I wanted to congratulate you. You were chosen to light a torch on Independence Day.' I fell silent. I, usually very talkative, could not speak a word. Tears came to my eyes. It was the last thing I thought would happen," said Aharish.

One of the first calls Aharish made after she received the good news was to her mother. "I called her and said: 'Mom, they chose me to light a torch on Independence Day.' 'Okay, great,' she responded.

"I was surprised by her response. 'Do you fear something?' I asked her. 'It is after all the biggest ceremony at Mount Herzl.' And she answered, 'Wonderful. This is how you will hit back at all the racists who make your life hard everyday.'

"I accept what she says 100 percent. It is a slap in the face to all those racists who have no shame to post comments such as 'stinking Arab' and 'Get out of here, this is not your country' and 'who needs Arabs on their (TV) screens.'"

Aharish says she did not think of giving up the position for a second. "I'm proud of it," the television host who was born to Muslim parents and grew up in Dimona said. Aharish now resides in Tel Aviv.

"I know that a lot of people will have something to say, but the moment my parents are proud – I am happy."

You know the haters will accuse Israel of "tokenism" for choosing to honor Lucy Aharish. But there sure are a lot of "tokens" out there - at some point they add up to a lot more than a token amount.